The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God;
yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion,
yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form
do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

—Alma 30:44

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Television Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 3.0

When Revenge of the Sith came out, George Lucas made it clear that he wasn't interested in shooting any more films in the Star Wars franchise. However, he wasn't done with the Star Wars universe, either. Production soon began on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a cartoon series chronicling the events of the Clone Wars that take place between episodes II and III. The series debuted with the release of a feature film which was almost universally lambasted.[1]

I suspect this was, in large part, because it was judged in the context of the other Star Wars films. Judged in the context of a Saturday-morning cartoon, I think it, and the series it launched, is surprisingly good. The animations are a convincing blend of the actors from the live-action films and Genndy Tartakovsky's animation from the similarly-titled cartoon series, Star Wars: Clone Wars. More importantly, the series incorporates an important message into each episode.[2]

My verdict: The episodes aren't always presented in any discernible order, so it's a little hard to maintain continuity. But each episode is discreet enough that it can be enjoyed on its own. The morals presented in each episode are agreeable. In fact, they've rejected messages like "children are smarter than their parents", which prevail in a lot of other children's shows. Other than the cartoon violence, I think this is a good series for children.